1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a firearm training system employing laser-emitting firearms and laser-detecting targets, and, more particularly, to a training firearm having a laser module that emits laser pulses along a centerline of the barrel of the firearm toward a laser-detecting target which may be linked via a computer network to similar, remotely-located training systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shooting sports today include a variety of competitions including firing handguns, rifles and other firearms at bull's eyes and other types of targets. Measures of performance used to determine relative and absolute success include accuracy, speed, shot grouping, range and a host of combinations of these and other criteria. A combination of skills, competitive talents, and firearm performance is required to enable someone to compete successfully in the shooting sports. The skills involved include the integrated act of combining marksmanship fundamentals, such as proper firing position, trigger management, secure grip and correct sight picture. Competitive talents associated with the various shooting sports include being able to shoot accurately on the move, being able to draw a handgun from a holster, and being able to control breathing and movement so as to create a very stable platform for achieving pinpoint accuracy on a target.
The history of shooting as a sport reaches as far back as the invention of the first firearms. In excess of 10 million Americans regularly participate in one of the forms of officially recognized shooting sports. Varieties of shooting sports are part of both the summer and winter Olympics. Shooting is an internationally recognized competitive endeavor with its own championships, sponsors, competitive programs and sanctioning agencies. It is also a vibrant and dynamic sport, with new events and competitive options emerging frequently, e.g., cowboy action shooting.
Unfortunately, shooting sports suffer from a number of limitations and constraints that threaten the present and future vitality of the pastime. Foremost among these limitations are those associated with the shooting process itself. When a firearm is fired, some form of projectile is ejected from the firearm toward the target. This projectile (e.g., a bullet, musket ball, shot, BB or pellet) has the capability to injure or kill. The fact that the sport of shooting currently requires impact of a projectile with a target introduces a safety problem that limits the sport both physically and from an image point of view, contributing to the controversy now surrounding the private ownership of firearms.
It is undeniable that the tragedies associated with firearms, as well as the criminal acts committed with firearms, have harmed the image of the sport. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, firearm-related tragedies have led to the banning of all private ownership. No distinction is made regarding firearms reserved for sporting purposes. In many countries, such as Japan, ownership of private firearms has been illegal for some time.
The projectile fired by the firearm puts further constraints on the sport of shooting. Safety dictates that proper barriers and cleared areas be in place to prevent bystanders from being hit by direct fire and ricochets. This limits the ability of spectators to view competition. Special ranges are needed in order to conduct shooting sports anywhere within populated areas. These ranges are expensive to construct in accordance with zoning restrictions and expensive to insure. Moreover, competitions must be conducted at a common range (i.e., not at multiple, remote ranges) to ensure fair competition and to prevent the possibility of cheating.
Because spectators are restricted to watching shooting sport events from a safe distance behind the competitors, it is very difficult for the audience to see how the competition is progressing at any given time. In many circumstances, all of the firing must cease before targets can be inspected and scored. The audience must wait for this process to learn how their champion or team has fared. These constraints limit the audience of the sport, reducing its attractiveness in this age of computerized interactivity and immediacy to the participants themselves.
Equally problematic is the projectile, and specifically the lead bullet fired by most firearms. Lead is toxic, and the lead residue, including dust and other fragments, contaminate ranges of both the indoor and outdoor variety. Environmental protection laws are very strict in this regard, forcing range operators both to install expensive air cleaning and handling systems and to remediate existing range facilities.
Thus, while the sport of shooting is popular, enjoys a long heritage, and does meet all of the criteria for both individual and team competition, the very nature of the process of shooting is itself limiting. The unfortunate linkage to criminal and tragic acts further limits the potential of the sport and, in many cases, has directly led to its restriction.
Further, there is an ongoing need to train law enforcement officers and soldiers in the use of firearms, but using live ammunition at realistic ranges requires space and material which can be difficult to provide. The normal course of instruction (COI) relies on the use of live ammunition, and is called "live fire training." Live fire training is dangerous, requiring properly surveyed and sized ranges, barriers and impact areas, and the use of lead bullets in live fire training is a pollution hazard, with associated remediation expenses. The U.S. government presently is spending considerable sums to clean up lead pollution at live fire ranges across the country, and an alternative to live fire training would be desirable from a remediation cost savings point of view alone.
Marksmanship training is intended to build and refine individual skills. However, in the case of most military units, conducting live fire training is done collectively, in that all of the members of the unit go to the firing range together. Primarily, this is due to the fact that live ammunition is carefully controlled. Also, since live fire ranges are scarce resources, their use must be scheduled. This entails significant advance coordination and planning, especially for reserve component units such as the Army and Marine Reserves of the Air and Army National Guard. These units meet monthly, on weekends typically, at centers of armories without suitable range facilities. Units must be transported to and from suitable training ranges, which often are a significant distance away, and supported with food and shelter while at the range. Those experienced in such matters will recognize that the ability to conduct suitable firearms training in the centers and armories ("at home station"), on an individual basis when needed, could provide significant savings and increase training value.
For the training to be meaningful, a formal COI is imposed, such as that noted for the M16A1 and M16A2 rifle in U.S. Army field manual FM 23-9, and a test is required. This test assesses the trainee's ability to meet the standards set forth in the COI, and is typically referred to as "qualification". Passing the test means the trainee meets the standards and is qualified to use the weapon.
The qualification test includes a requirement to engage and hit standard targets of different sizes and having different shapes disposed at various ranges from the trainee. The actual distance to a target is called the range. Typically, rifle marksmanship skills are tested out to ranges of 300 meters for modern military rifles, and 25 to 50 meters for handguns. The longer ranges obviously impose significant acreage requirements for live fire range facilities. Consequently, the armed forces have formulated scaled target alternate courses which use silhouette targets sized to simulate different range-to-target distances based on fundamental mathematical formulas, thereby allowing the soldier to practice sight alignment skills on a sight picture of the appropriate size for a simulated target at a given range.
These scaled target alternatives to actual distance ranges still require the use of live ammunition in a live fire range, with all the associated safety, pollution, and resource consumption implications noted above. Thus, while the use of scaled targets reduces the "real estate" required at the live fire range, it does not eliminate the need for, and associated costs and penalties of using a live fire range.
Both the Air Force and Navy have equivalent scaled target qualification procedures. These scaled qualification targets are accepted alternatives for testing the marksmanship skills of units that do not have access to full scale ranges, or are otherwise authorized to use scaled targets, and are therefore known as "Alternative Course" targets. For example, the Army uses the target shown in FIG. 1 which is called the "25 Meter Alternate C Course Target". The 25 meter descriptor denotes the range to which all of the targets have been scaled, and is the distance at which the target is to be engaged by the trainee.
Ideally, the alternate course exercise is conducted with a weapon which looks, feels and operates in a manner as close as possible to an actual service rifle (or pistol). Preferably, the simulated audible report shooting experience includes an audible report and recoil.
These scaled targets suffer from many of the same problems associated with all live fire training. In particular, a bullet strike on the target cannot be differentiated from another strike on the same target without some elaborate detection means at the firing line, a location hit detection means at the target itself, or an individual target inspection after each round fired. In all cases, the costs associated with such discrimination means are significant, with the result that they are rarely used. Training assessment accuracy suffers as a result.
For example, in the Army 25 Meter Alternate C Course of fire, the soldier is required to fire in two sessions to qualify. The first session requires that the soldier fire 20 rounds, held in two 10 round magazines, from a prone position with the weapon supported on a sandbag. The soldier has 120 seconds to hit each of the 10 scaled target silhouettes on the target (FIG. 1) two times. Having the weapon supported on the sandbag provides added stability to the weapon and enhances accuracy.
The second session requires that the soldier fire a second string of 20 rounds from a prone position with the weapon unsupported. Unsupported means that the soldier can use only his arms, with elbows resting on the ground, to hold the weapon steady. The relative stability and accuracy of the unsupported firing position is reduced relative to that of the supported firing position.
Typically, since the paper targets are cheap and save time, the two 25 meter targets required for the qualification test are mounted side-by-side on a suitable backing in full view of the trainee. The soldier is instructed to fire on one of the targets first, and, after the 120 second period elapses and all 20 rounds are accounted for, then the second target. However, since the targets are the same, and since the smaller (greater scaled range) targets are harder to hit, soldiers frequently engage all the small silhouettes on both targets during the supported session. The larger silhouettes (the 50 meter and 100 meter ranges) are left for the unsupported session.
More generally, since the shooting range is "hot" during the entire shooting exercise, it is not possible to closely inspect the target and determine the order in which a shooter has engaged each target and it is also not possible to determine whether a shooter was aiming for a target at the time an impact was observed on that target (i.e. that silhouette). Consequently, it is possible for an unskilled shooter to shoot the targets in random order and still obtain a qualifying score, since the silhouettes are clustered onto a single sheet for alternate course qualification exercises.
Since the scoring takes place after both firing sessions are complete (again to save time, since scoring the targets requires that everyone cease fire so that the instructors can go downrange and physically inspect the target), inaccurate assessments of the soldiers' marksmanship skills may result. It should come as no surprise that significantly lower test results are frequently achieved when the soldiers are retested on the actual distance ranges where the targets are presented randomly across the field of view.
Thus, it can be seen that to take advantage of the scaled silhouette target concept, it is preferable for the target to be able to distinguish the location of each hit and the time sequence of the hits, and to communicate that information to the scorer/instructor in real time. Preferably, the target would include a method for determining if the trainee is at the correct range so that training and testing could be accomplished autonomously.
To take full advantage of the scaled target concept, while simultaneously avoiding the safety, pollution and other negative issues associated with live fire, there is a need for a weapon simulator that looks, feels and operates as the actual weapon but does not fire a live round, and provides the full psycho-kinetic experience to the trainee, including felt recoil, sound, and smell that the soldier would realize on the live fire range. The simulator would have an alternative and totally safe means for accurately hitting the target. Preferably, the simulator would be untethered so as not to restrict the trainee's movement, grip, or position while firing, and would also require the trainee to reload, charge and clear the simulator in the same manner as the actual weapon so that no part of the value of live fire training is lost. It is desirable that both the simulator and the target support qualification testing with the weapon's standard day sights as well as with the latest developments in night vision and thermal detection systems so that the unit is not required to use a live fire range at all.
Another drawback to live ammunition is its use in the process of "zeroing" a sighted firearm. The process of correctly adjusting the sight mechanism of a firearm typically involves two steps. First, the sight mechanism of the firearm is aligned with the centerline of the bore in a process known as "boresighting." Boresighting achieves a coarse alignment which generally allows the shooter to hit the target when the sight is trained thereon, though the hit locations are typically clustered at a point off center. This is because boresighting does not take into account the fact that each shooter has a unique "sight picture", meaning that each shooter aligns his or her eye with the sight slightly differently, as a function of his or her proper firing position, thereby seeing the location of the center of the target somewhat differently. Assuming the shooter can repeatably take up the proper firing position and fire a group of shots within a certain diameter on the target, a fine adjustment (i.e., zeroing) of the sight mechanism can be achieved by determining the offset between the center of mass of the hits in the shot group and the center of the target, and then adjusting the sight mechanism accordingly. By repeating this process a number of times, the offset between the center of the target and the center of mass of the shot group can be minimized, such that the firearm is "zeroed" for a particular shooter.
In order to determine the true offset accurately, it would be advantageous to have many shots in the shot group for each iteration of the zeroing process. However, numerous shots consume ammunition resources. Further, it is difficult to estimate (by eye) the center of mass of more than three hit points. For these reasons, no more than three shots are typically fired for each shot group, with the consequence that the accuracy of the estimate of the offset is limited, and more iterations of the zeroing process may be required (relative to iterations with larger shot groups). Consequently, it would be advantageous to be able to use larger shot groups in the zeroing process without the attendant difficulties in measuring the center of mass and without increased usage of resources, in order to reduce the number of iterations required to complete the zeroing process, thereby to save time.
Various systems for training a shooter without requiring the firing of live ammunition have been proposed, including systems incorporating optical and laser technology. The firing of blank cartridges from firearms give the shooter a sense of how the firearm will feel under live fire conditions. Blank firing conversions for semiautomatic pistols are the subject of U.S. Pat Nos. 5,140,893, 5,433,134 and 5,585,589(all to Edward J. Leiter), the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. However, because such systems do not fire a projectile at a target, the shooter is not provided with any feedback as to whether the firearm was properly aimed on whether good follow through was maintained.
In addition, laser drivers have been used for transmitting a laser beam as a training aid in firearms, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,320, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In laser-based systems, a laser transmitter is typically mounted to one side of the firearm's muzzle, and projects a laser signal onto a target to simulate firing of a projectile and a hit location. One problem with such systems is that the laser signal is not projected along the longitudinal centerline of the barrel (as a projectile would be); thus, the projection angle of the laser must be slightly angled relative to the longitudinal centerline axis of the barrel so that the laser signal hits the target in the same location that a projection fired from the barrel would hit the target. This arrangement introduces a parallax problem, wherein the laser projection angle must be adjusted as a function of the target range in order for the location of the laser signal on the target to accurately reflect the location that a projectile would hit the target.
To eliminate the parallax problem, it has been proposed to mount a laser transmitter directly in the barrel of a firearm. In particular, Bang Corporation has developed a cylindrically-shaped laser module which slides into the muzzle of a pistol and is held in place by frictional force. When the firearm trigger is pulled, the laser module detects resonance of the fall of the hammer and emits a visible laser signal which can be seen on a paper target or the like. However, because the laser module rests within the barrel, the firearm cannot fire live ammunition or even a blank while the laser is in use, and the trainee feels only a "click" of the hammer upon pulling the trigger. Consequently, the in-barrel laser does not allow the trainee to experience any recoil or firing effects whatsoever, and provides a poor simulation of the psycho-kinetic experience associated with operating the firearm with live ammunition, with no audible report or recoil. Further, live ammunition can accidentally be loaded and fired while the laser is within the barrel, presenting a potential safety hazard to the trainee and others in the vicinity.
Moreover, many laser-emitting firearm training devices, including the Bang Corporation's in-barrel laser, simply project a laser signal on a paper target or the like without any detection of the laser signal, thereby requiring simultaneous visual inspection of the target, and making these devices unsuitable for the aforementioned military training exercises involving a sequence of firings.